Kaws X Pafa Poster

The indoor component of KAWS @ PAFA featured over 60 KAWS paintings and sculptures — some of them newly created for this exhibition — in the galleries of the Historic Landmark Building. These works provided an intriguing link between contemporary and historic American art. KAWS @ PAFA was the first large-scale gallery intervention exhibition and highlighted PAFA’s long tradition of commitment to contemporary art and to artists who define the iconography of their times.

KAWS is an American graffiti artist and designer known for his toys, paintings, and prints. Born Brian Donnelly on November 4, 1974 in Jersey City, NJ, KAWS graduated with a BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York and went on to work in animation. “When your whole art is based on the lettering you choose, you kinda figure out what ones work together. I just liked the shapes of the k, a, w, s,” he explained of his moniker.